Hello fellow fisherman. I'm from Northwestern PA and just got into the game after my fiance's uncle introduced me to fly fishing when I was in Colorado. I was able to learn the basics from that experience however I am still rusty. I got a great 9ft 6# sage rod with a 6# weight forward leader and 3x tippet and I'm ready to hit the local streams. I'm looking to head down to Cool Creek in Mercer this weekend, but I need to get some flys. This is an area where I have no clue what I need or what I'm looking at. What I need to know is what flys are best for the area. From doing some research I found that woolly buggers seem to be the best, but what other suggestions would you guys have?

First thing...go back to Colorado! Short of that, you are fortunate to be in a state with some great streams. I am not very experienced, but am fortunate to have the resource of some veru experienced fishermen, as well as this forum. I can tell you that your gear is a bit heavy for most PA trout and streams, short of perhaps Steelhead where some might argue it's a tad light....some might not.

You can certainly fish with a 6wt rod, but the 3x tippet is heavy. You want to taper down to a 5 or 6x tippet. When you can, look to grab a 4wt, perhaps a 5wt rod. My brother loves to go light with a 3wt, so it is subjective. 4wt seems to be a pretty good all arounder for most PA streams.

Woollys are good, because they are designed to look like anything, instead of something specific. Black, Olive, or a Black/Olive mix tend to be the most productive. Pheasant Tail Beadhead nymph is good, as are Hare's Ear, and various muddlers. San juan worms look like worms...guess how that works out...

good luck and enjoy the ride!

Posted on: 2012/8/20 20:32

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Honey, when I die, sell my fly gear for what it's worth and NOT what I told you I paid for it.

I think you're better off fishing Cool Spring once it gets stocked again in the fall, it gets toasty in the summer and I'm not sure how many fish are left. Still check it out though and look for the deeper holes. etc. for fall.

Believe it or not I have fished Neshannock and I think Cool Spring with a 9ft 6wt before. Yeah, it's heavy, but it didn't feel too big especially fighting the bigger fish. A 5wt is better though.

You might also want to look at the Shenango River which is nearby. It's stocked with trout from fall through spring, but right now is a great time for smallmouth bass. A 6wt is perfect there.

Fishingnoob, Welcome to the Paff forums and welcome to our passion for fly fishing (FFing). Your rod and reel combo is fine to start out FFing here in PA. For trout streams in central PA this time of year, I'd recommend you have a couple Wooly Buggers (as you know), a couple #16 ants or beetles, some basic nymphs - maybe Hare's Ear or Pheasant Tail in size #18 and 14; and finally a couple flies we usually call "junk" - that is to say bright colored flies that don't really imitate anything: this would include flies like San Juan Worms, Green Weenies or something similar. If you've got a basic selection of some of these flies you're ready to get started.

There's a handful of good streams up your way, but it's been a rough year weather wise. Many of the streams that were stocked are completely void of trout right now. You can fish some smaller streams but the water levels and temperatures may force you off of those too. The fall is just around the corner and there's a handful of streams up there that get stocked in the fall, plus some nice streams that hold wild fish that fish well in the fall also. Plus the Lake Erie tributaries will get runs of steelhead starting in the next month or so. It's not the best area of the state, but there are definitely some options on where to cast a line.

I never fished Cool Spring yet even though it is less than 45 minute drive for me. Maybe some day.

6 weight rod should be fine if you don't want to invest in something else right away. It is a good all around rod for trout and smallmouth bass. For trout, I tend to go just a little bit heavier with the tippet than some of the people on here. I use mostly 4X and 5X for trout. I do occasionally use 6X (and 3X). What I normally do is try to size it to the fly rather than the fish.

Take the fly size and divide by three as a rough estimate. For size 16 I'd use 5X. For size 18, I might go down to 6X. I rarely fish anything smaller than that because I can't see it.

The above is mostly for unweighted flies. Weighted, I may bump it up a diameter size.

No idea of if this is correct, it is just what I do.

for most Woolly Bugger patterns that I use for trout, I'd normally use 4X. 3X if I am using larger ones on bigger water or lead head.

The bright side is that steelhead season is just around the corner, and your rod and leaders are just about perfect for the PA tributaries of Lake Erie. The buggers also work great on steelhead, especially the fall run IMO.